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"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have." M.Mead

Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." - J.P.Sartre.

Ice Maiden wrote:To avoid this leaning into 18+ conversation I will use a more measured comment.

Steffi (above) is a very experienced moderator, writer, and super knowledgeable regarding the sex industry. So there is no more perfect person to speak about all this.

But by her own admission, she's unaware of anyone who's done this. And I'm still unsure as to why I've gotten the prickly treatment but hey ho...

To feminse but maintain an active sex life one needs to avoid Antiandrogen-specific meds. The implants etc... and of course no orchidectomy.

Maintaining a full 'downstairs' even to the point of 24hrs before surgery is possible. But usually it requires ethnylestadiol. 50mcg (or less snapped in half daily). Then keep a close eye on your 'performance'. The first noticeable change will be budding breasts and nipple sensitivity. Just pace yourself and do not be in any rush. Many will get breast augmentation anyway. But many of the other advantages, softer skin etc, although not as swift as a full Gender Cllinic-managed programme should suffice.

Thanks - now this is where I need educating! What implants need avoiding? You also mentioned taking ethnylestadiol (to maintain sexual function but then mention first noticeable changes so are you now talking about when I first start HRT? Is 'ethny' a hormone or something else? a pro-androgen, lol?

Can you break down the HRT regime for me as I can't find the info elsewhere. I am just vaguely aware that at some point, MtF trans take oestrogen, t-blockers and anti-androgens - hardly indepth, I know!

qowever, as Steffi warns you need to have a blood test, even if you pay for one (GPS are/'can be' accommodating, people) self-med with Drugs and Alcohol and need that monitored. Just find a nice one - or buy a wrist BLood Pressure Monitor and if it changes visit your GP (one less trip).

The active TS I met said it's a legal requirement in the UK for a doctor to provide blood testing/advice if you tell them you are self-medding so if I go down that route, I should be okay. Also, how come self-medding takes longer to get the resullts you mentioned (ie: softer skin) than if you go via GIC?

..... how come self-medding takes longer to get the resullts you mentioned (ie: softer skin) than if you go via GIC?

It doesn't - it will take longer because the GIC would expect to put you on a full dose of hormones plus antiandrogens whereas you want to keep your genitals unaffected so may perhaps use no antiandrogen and a half-dose of estrogen.

Some endocrine (- hormones) background because if you are going to start playing at putting dangerous substances into your body, you should have at least some idea what you are doing and why. ( FYI .... pico-mols per litre of blood = pmol/L are 1,000 time smaller than nano-mols per litre = nmol/L )

* Firstly there are NO hormones or other drugs SPECIFICALLY approved for transsexuals - the patient base is far too small to justify the huge expense a drug company would incur to get things approved. Therefore every drug used on/for/by transsexuals is being used "off-label" i.e. for a purpose not sanctioned. - this puts the prescribing doctor on very shaky legal ground so GP's almost universally will not prescribe without a directive from a GIC who are after all specialists in trans matters.Some drugs used were designed for an entirely different purpose and are used because they have a beneficial side-effect - e.g. Spironolactone is a diuretic (= makes you pee more) but has the side effect of suppressing testosterone production quite effectively.

* Women produce varying amounts of four main hormones during their monthly cycle. The primary and the one which causes feminisation is ESTROGEN. (also spelled Oestrogen or referred to as Estradiol.)Estrogen has a half-life of about 6 hours in the body (of course, the female monthly cycle would not work with substances that hung around in the body for several days )Estrogen supplements can be prescribed as tablets to swallow, tablets to dissolve under the tongue or gel/patches to be absorbed through the skin.ALL estrogen carries an elevated risk of thrombosis. Gel/patches are safest, sublingual (= under the tongue) next safest, swallowed pills least - the risk though significant is not very high.* ETHYNILestradiol is an artificially created substance. The Estrogen molecule has been slightly altered so it has the same effect as estrogen BUT the half-life is much longer, therefore the blood/estrogen level is much steadier. It is a good feminiser but has a slightly elevated thrombosis risk and for this reason is prescribed less often these days, especially to smokers or patients over 30 years of age. - I believe that ethynil estradiol will not show up in a normal test for estrogen. - an aside ....... one of the earliest estrogens available, still used and an excellent feminiser is "Premarin" ..... so named because it is made from horse-p1ss .....pregnant mare;s urine

To get the quickest (and perhaps best) effect from estrogen, testosterone needs to be suppressed.

* Antiandrogens are testosterone suppressors (aka T-blockers)These block the production of GENERAL testosterone by one means or another. Broadly speaking, the tablets interfere with the testes ability to produce testosterone whereas the depot-injections and implants make other glands in the body stop from ever sending the signal "make testosterone" to the testes in the first place.Testosterone IS sex. Men might have a testosterone level of 60 nmol/L whereas women have approx 1.7 nmol/L ....... so now you see why women are a lot less horny and sex-obsessed. "Frigid" women are given a tiny amount of extra testosterone to boost their libido ....... but if it gets above 3 nmol/L then the woman is in danger of growing facial hair and having her voice start to break.For more info on antiandrogens see here http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictio ... ogen+DrugsCharing Cross GIC e.g. usually use implants of Zoladex (= Goseralin) or Decapeptyl (= Triptorelin, which I was on 3-monthly)

* ALL hormones are made by the body from cholesterol.* Testosterone is more powerful than estrogen and overpowers it.* Women's estrogen level varies over the month between about 250 pmol/L up to 1800 pmol/L. Their testosterone is circa 1.5 nmol/L* Male estrogen levels are 150 to 250 pmol/L. Testosterone levels are anywhere up to 60+nmol/L ( ..... when I went to the GIC in late middle age I was still at 27 nmol/L and still wanting at least one w4nk a day)* There is enough estrogen circulating in a male body to slowly feminise it .........but the blitz of testosterone completely overpowers it. * Taking over-large doses of estrogen will not make "puberty" happen any faster. Doing so often distorts the breasts, making them grow into a weird pointy shape. - female puberty takes from say 11 to say 18. That's 7 years. The GIC get it done in 2 so it's already running fast!Increased dose also greatly elevates the thrombosis risk.* If too much estrogen is circulating in the male body, then an enzyme called "aromatase" can and does convert estrogen into testosterone.* A small amount of testosterone is made by the adrenal glands in both sexes.* As a further complication, the effectiveness of estrogen (and testosterone) is also affected by the level of PROLACTIN in the blood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolactin. Prolactin also influences sexual gratification...... * More body-fat equals more estrogen circulating https://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-reso ... al-effects* Progesterone is the other main female hormone, peaking at the end of the month. It is closely related to testosterone. It causes all the bad effects women endure ...... PMT, bloating, water-retention, spots etc. Debate has raged for decades about whether Progesterone enhances breast size. It is no nearer resolution and there is nothing approaching definitive proof either way. I side with the view that the size increase caused by progesterone maturing the milk-ducts is almost unmeasurable. Any other size increase is due to bloating from water-retention and disappears a couple of days after progesterone is stopped - several born-women I know have a "big-t1ts week" as part of their monthly cycle.* Testosterone makes you horny. There are "converter sites" in the body which change testosterone into the much more potent and masculinising DIHYDROtestosterone (+DHT) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrotestosterone DHT causes male-pattern baldness and stimulates facial and body hair more powerfully than simple testosterone.FINASTERIDE is a drug given by GIC's which blocks 75% of the conversion-sites. DUTASTERIDE is a similar, better but more expensive product which blocks 94% Taking Finasteride or Dutasteride might initially also cause your general testosterone level to drop to near female levels, although it will certainly creep back up as months pass.

A usual treatment would be an antiandrogen plus circa 4mg of Estrogen orally (Progynova)If ethynil estradiol was substituted, then the equivalent dosage would be circa 100 mcg (NOTE - 4 milligrams for estrogen, 100 micrograms for ethynil estradiol)On this dosage, breast-buds would usually be very apparent - and painful - in 5 to 6 weeks....... you do know that breast development goes in Tanner Stages ?

1. Antiandrogens stope testosterone being produced or greatly reduce it (this is basic chat not scientific so please noone post a scientific argument here as we are trying to keep it simple thanks).Taking them will likely lower your libido. And shrink 'it' up a bit.

2. Oestrogen grows your breasts and 'feminises you' Ethynylestrodiol like this see Lynoral who have a 10mcg and a 50mcg - 50 would likely have a significant feminising effect after a few months. However, the 10mcg (they also provide there) is a more gentle dose to 'test the water'.

3. Get Blood Tests and BP measured every couple of months. You can buy a device like this see Homedics (or other) wrist monitors in the search box there to monitor your own for peace of mind.

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have." M.Mead

Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." - J.P.Sartre.

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have." M.Mead

Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." - J.P.Sartre.